“We can not interpret in any other way the deployment of an ultra-modern destroyer accompanying the heir to the throne, who we would prefer to see in civilian attire,” Mrs Kirchner said.

Demanding that David Cameron “give an opportunity for peace and dialogue”, she pledged to lodge a complaint at the UN about the presence of HMS Dauntless and Prince William.

“The question of the Malvinas has stopped being just an Argentinean cause. It has become a Latin American cause. It is a global cause,” Mrs Kirchner said.

“I have instructed our foreign secretary to submit before the UN security council and the UN assembly this militarisation, which is a serious risk to to international security”.

Mrs Kirchner's speech was the latest escalation in tensions over the region in advance of April's 30th anniversary of Britain's successful war to liberate the Falklands from the Argentine military junta.

Amid renewed claims of sovereignty from Buenos Aires, Downing Street has vowed to defend the islands as long as their 3,000 inhabitants want to be part of Britain, as polls consistently show they do.

British Falklands veteran Simon Weston, who was badly injured during the conflict, described the Argentinian president as "a troubled woman".

He told the BBC: "I don't know what she thinks she is going to gain by annoying everyone with these continuing arguments.

"Ultimately what are the UN going to do? Are they going to sign a sanction against Britain? I doubt it very much."

Dick Sawle, a Falklands politician, said the islands' fundamental right to self-determination should not be taken away from them

He told BBC's Today programme: "Since 1982 when we were invaded we have had a very strong deterrent force which has been effective. We have not been invaded again."

He said it was "nonsense" to suggest that Prince William's arrival on the Falklands was a threat as he will be in civilian clothes flying search and rescue helicopters.

Ministers confirmed last week that the £1 billion Type 45 destroyer Dauntless will be deployed to the islands for seven months, in what they insisted was a “routine” rotation.

Meanwhile Prince William is to spend six weeks on the islands as part of another “routine deployment” in his role as Flight Lieutenant Wales, an RAF search-and-rescue helicopter pilot.

The Argentine foreign ministry has complained that the heir to the British throne would arrive wearing “the uniform of a conqueror”.

Mrs Kirchner last night moved to quash speculation that the Argentine military was gearing up for conflict. “Don't expect us to deal with this outside of politics or diplomacy,” she said. “It is not going to happen. We have suffered too much”.

She spoke to a packed audience of war veterans, politicians and senior military figures in the Latin American Patriots Hall, a ceremonial room inside the Casa Rosa, the presidential mansion.

Her address was delivered in front a large poster showing an outline of the islands – which Britain have had since 1833 - emblazoned with the blue and white flag of Argentina.

Outside, thousands of young people and those old enough to remember the 1982 conflict gathered in a sign of support for the president. Some shouted: "Malvinas! They belong to us!"

After the speech, Mrs Kirchner emerged on to a balcony and was greeted with roaring approval from the flag-waving crowd, at one point pumping her fist and joining them in nationalistic song.

Mrs Kirchner confirmed that a long-secret government report on the activities of the Argentine military in the 1982 war would be made public in 30 days.